Opinion: When will Congress learn? If you give Trump a tariff, he'll spend $12 billion to 'fix' the unintended consequences.

When my kids were toddlers, I read them one of the finest books ever written on political theory. “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” by Felicia Bond seems like a silly kid’s book, but it teaches readers young and old all about unintended consequences.

“If you give a mouse a cookie, he’s going to ask for a glass of milk,” the story goes. “When you give him the milk, he’ll probably ask you for a straw. When he’s finished, he’ll ask you for a napkin.” On it goes until, after turning the little boy’s life upside down, the mouse is back to wanting another cookie.

Politicians work the same way; they just dress it up in more sophisticated terms like “tariffs” and “trade.”

Actually, trade wars aren't easy to win

A few months back, President Trump declared that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” Now, just as nearly every economist on the left and right predicted, Americans are being hurt.

When a country (USA) is losing many billions of dollars on trade with virtually every country it does business with, trade wars are good, and easy to win. Example, when we are down $100 billion with a certain country and they get cute, don’t trade anymore-we win big. It’s easy!

The White House slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. China retaliated with planned tariffs on soybeans, meats and various agricultural products. Mexico, Canada and the European Union also struck back at farm goods and other U.S. exports.

A smart leader would notice his mistake and end the destructive policy. Instead, Trump declared that “tariffs are the greatest” and created a multibillion-dollar federal program to mitigate a small part of the mess he created.

The administration used emergency executive powers created during the Great Depression; that way Congress wouldn’t get to weigh in.

“This is obviously a short-term solution that will give President Trump time to work on a long-term trade policy and deal to benefit agriculture as well as all sectors of the American economy,” Perdue told reporters.

Create a problem, spend more to 'fix' it

It’s certainly short-term, but hardly a solution. Trade deals and networks are disrupted, farmers can’t plan for the future, and non-agricultural industries are still losing money. Not to mention all the American consumers watching prices rise on all sorts of household goods.

But red states have a lot of farmers and the midterms are just three months away. Maybe borrowing a few billion dollars will hide enough economic pain to convince voters to keep Republicans in power for two more years.

The Trump administration’s expensive stunt is commonplace in Washington, D.C. Government creates a problem. A few months later, government creates an expensive reform program to "fix" it – but leaves the problem in place. A couple of years down the road, government creates a new reform to "fix" the old reform – but keeps the problem and the old reform in place.

Why won't Congress just stop his trade war?

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Like usual, Republicans in Congress are complaining about the White House’s erratic behavior.

“This is becoming more and more like a Soviet-type of economy,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said. “Commissars deciding who’s going to be granted waivers, commissars in the administration figuring out how they’re going to sprinkle around benefits.”

Also, like usual, Congress isn’t doing anything to stop the dumb trade war. It’s easier to complain to the cameras instead of doing the job voters pay them to do.

If you give a Trump a tariff, he’s going to ask for $12 billion to buy votes for the midterms. Maybe our senators and representatives can brush up on kid lit. Obviously, Economics 101 textbooks and the U.S. constitution are too tough for them to understand.

Jon Gabriel, a Mesa resident, is editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to The Republic and azcentral.com. Follow him on Twitter at @exjon.